Your Orchestra, Your Impact

2017-18

The Minnesota Orchestra offers our deepest gratitude to the 8,487 donors who made our 2017-2018 season of musical performance, programming and engagement such a spectacular success. Your financial investment made it possible for nearly 300,000 people of all ages to experience the Orchestra’s celebrated music at Orchestra Hall, at free summer concerts across the Twin Cities metro area, and at tour destinations as varied as Mankato, Chicago, London and South Africa – all while achieving a balanced budget for the fourth consecutive year.

Thank you!

Our Mission

The Minnesota Orchestra's mission is to enrich, inspire and serve our community as an enduring symphony orchestra internationally recognized for its artistic excellence.

Artistic Excellence

152

concerts were held at Orchestra Hall and beyond. In total, the Minnesota Orchestra performed 303 pieces written by 153 composers during the 2017-2018 season.

4

works received world or U.S. premieres. These are in addition to the array of new music performed in November 2017 at the Future Classics: Emerging Composers concert.

67

guest soloists and conductors joined the Minnesota Orchestra for spellbinding performances.

1&4

Symphonies by Gustav Mahler were performed and recorded. The Orchestra also released its recording of Mahler’s Symphony No. 6 and received a Grammy nomination for its recording of Symphony No. 5.

16

pieces by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky were performed in just two weeks during the Tchaikovsky Marathon, including six symphonies, three piano concertos, a violin concerto, a ballet suite and several other works.

91%

of Orchestra Hall’s seats were filled during the 2017-2018 season, the highest level in five years. More than 19,000 concert-goers purchased tickets for the Minnesota Orchestra for the first time.

Inspiring, Engaging, and Serving

100%

Residents from every one of Minnesota’s 87 counties attended a performance at Orchestra Hall.

10,045

fans of all ages, many of them in costume, cheered for their favorite characters during Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets in December 2017.

35,668

students – coming from 292 schools throughout Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa – attended one of the 22 Young People’s Concerts during the 2017-2018 season. More than 9,000 of those students attended for free; others paid just $6.25.

2,380

Mankato residents attended musical activities during the Orchestra’s Common Chords residency in April 2018, which included performances in a senior living community, the Children’s Museum of Southern Minnesota, numerous schools and the Mankato Brewery.

+2M

listeners heard Minnesota Orchestra performances on the radio. In addition to live Friday night broadcasts on Classical MPR, select concert programs were featured on SymphonyCast and Performance Today.

1st

sensory-friendly concert that featured the full Minnesota Orchestra. Orchestra musicians also offered three small ensemble sensory-friendly concerts in the Target Atrium. These concerts are designed for patrons of all ages and abilities, including those on the autism spectrum and those with sensory sensitivities.

Music for Mandela

100th

anniversary of Nelson Mandela’s birth was celebrated in summer 2018, beginning with Sommerfest at Orchestra Hall and followed by a triumphant return to the BBC Proms in London and then a history-making five-city tour of South Africa, the first ever by a professional U.S. orchestra.

19

artists and ensembles offered free performances during Sommerfest’s International Day of Music. Guests also enjoyed a special marketplace in and around Orchestra Hall offering food, clothing, jewelry, handicrafts and a variety of hands-on music and art activities.

27,854

people attended performances and other musical activities during Sommerfest at Orchestra Hall. Beyond Minnesota, more than 5,000 people attended the BBC Proms concert at Royal Albert Hall in London and 4,700 people attended tour concerts in South Africa – 10% of whom were students who received free tickets.

40,000

books were collected and delivered to South African communities through a partnership with Saint Paul-based Books for Africa, as one of the tour’s many community engagement activities. Minnesota Orchestra musicians also visited schools and community centers to meet, coach and perform for hundreds of young South Africans.